Holiday Spending
Stress Less over Gift Giving
Holiday spending often comes as a surprise to us, because it's not something we typically budget for. But it really doesn't have to be such a stressful rush every year.
The same holidays repeat themselves literally ever year, so why not plan for it? It’s too late to change this year, but we can (and should!) start planning for next year.
But it's impossible to effectively plan if you don't have a baseline (aka understanding this year’s spending).
So here's how we're are going to plan for next year (and the years to come):
Write a list of every gift you bought this year — who are they for, and how much did they cost?
What’s the total cost of all of the gifts you gave?
Now ask yourself…how do I feel about that spending level? Was it too much? Too little? (But be realistic...if you spent $400 this year, it's probably not practical to decide that next year’s goal is $40)
Personally, I then add in a little extra wiggle room. You never know how many new people will enter your life next year, so you don’t want the budget to be toooooo tight
Choose next year’s spending target
Divide your total holiday gift budget by 12. (If total is $400, that means $34/mo)
Open an extra savings account and set up an auto transfer for that amount
And...that's literally it! You're done! $34/mo is so manageable, and worlds apart from scrambling for $400 next December.
(I know, I know. The last thing you want to do right now is go look at your credit card and do all this work and open a new savings account. I get it! I do. But I promise, this 30 minutes of work today will save you from stress and debt every December for the rest of your life. And that’s not even an exaggeration!)